A Collection of Imagines

Tom

Just Like a Shelby pt. 2

The men file into the room as I stand silently next to Tommy. I move towards the small stool near the counter and watch as the men compose themselves into rows facing Tommy. Their eyes follow something behind me. I turn to find him. Alfie. I knew I would see him here considering this is his "bakery", but I did not expect him to parole the room with his eyes staring at me. It feels as though he's sizing me up for something. I don't care to find out what. He walks around the room, moving his attention to the rest of the men scrambling to find a spot before Tommy speaks. He goes on about the jobs that the men are here to do. I knew why they were there. They were there to help Alfie win the war against Sabinni. The asshole that call himself the king of the horse racing game. However, it was more than the placement of power between the two gangs, it was more personal than that. The Jews and the Italians will forever be at odds and their egos will always get in the way. 

"To maintain a police presence is the main goal of why you are here." 

A man near the front snickers underneath his breath and I'm quick to become enraged. I stand from the stool next to Tommy. He tries to grab me before I let the words blurt out of my mouth. "If you have something to say to your superior, then you fucking say it, mate." The man looks at me while Tommy places a hand on my arm and tries to back me up onto the stool. The man looks me up and down and leans forward to taunt me. 

"Maybe my superior should put a leash on his woman." 

"The fuck you just say to me?" The man standing next to him chuckles along. Before I could get my hands on this fucker, Alfie steps in front of me. His hunched expression causes me to sit still. He walks over to the man and stares at him in his face. The man starts to slowly panic in front of him. Alfie raises his hand hits the man that stood next to the assailant square on the head with a bent pipe. He cries out and falls to the floor, unconscious. I gasp suddenly, shocked at the action. Alfie went back to staring at the asshole and taps his shoulder with the bent pipe. 

"Now, he'll wake up. Well, he won't have any feeling left and he will be a wiser man for it ..." 

I look to Tommy to see if he was going to put a stop to any of this, but all I saw was his passive self, waiting for the next thing to happen. I move back to Alfie as he is still face to face with the asshole. 

 "And the last thing he will remember is your funny little joke, won't he?" 

Is he ... defending me right now? Is that why Tommy won't step in? I stay stagnant on my seat as Tommy's hand moves off of me. A moment of silence passes as Alfie stares down this asshole. 

"Right!" 

His scream makes me jump in my seat. My eyes follow Alfie across the room. 

"There are fucking rules here. Yeah? There are fucking rules for a fucking reason. And they have to be obeyed, right? Rule number 1: The distinction between bread and rum, yeah, is not discussed." 

He circles back to place himself right in front of me again. He's pissed off and I feel like I can visibly see the smoke coming out of his ears. I can feel his energy build up as he gets closer to me and the asshole. 

"Rule number 2: Anything that you superior officer says to you or any of your other fucking superior officers say to you, yeah? NOT DISCUSSED!" 

He finally looks at me again. His eyes looking me up and down with concern as I visibly shake under his gaze. He looks at Tommy. I look at Tommy. He's pleased at what sees I can tell. He's letting Alfie take this one. Alfie turns to the men again. 

"Rule number 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 , 9. I don't care. For the rest of your fucking miserable measly lives, yeah, because I like you and also I'm a complete fucking sodomite, yeah?" 

He turns and looks back at me. He raises his hand to point directly at me. 

"This woman ..." 

My eyes go wide as he turns back to the men. 

"You do not go anywhere near her because this woman is off the fucking menu." 

He walks over to the asshole, who is already internally panicking, and stands in front of him again. What the fuck is he doing? 

"I think that's fair." 

He turns back around to me and I'm so pissed off. What the actual fuck, Alfie? He looks to Tommy and by the look on Alfie's face, I can tell that he is not pleased by the last rule he enforced. 

"Right, I think that's it. Forgive me if I interrupted."  

Alfie walks to stand beside me again. Tommy begins to speak again and I lean into Alfie and whisper, "Why don't you fucking piss on me right now because I don't fucking think that these men get that you're marking your fucking territory, yet?" He looks down at me and leans into my ear. 

"They needed to know, love."

I snap up and whisper back at him, "Fucking why, Alfie?" He stared at me for a second in slight confusion before staring down at my lips,

"Because you needed to know."